Über unerwÜnschte nebenwirkungen wirtschaftspolitischer massnahmen

SUMMARY Everywhere Man acts purposefully, undesired secondary effects can take place. In the first section of this article the problem is exposed giving examples out of nature and society, whereas in the second section its importance for the economic policy is argued on. Undesired secondary effects until now have been discussed along two lines: as practical cases in specific historical situations and as optimality rules for using policy means. In the third section W. A. J Öhr 's rule—developped 1947—is derived mathematically supposing cardinal measurement of utility. A figure shows that with intensifying the application of a policy measure, four phases can be discriminated: absolute and relative underdose, and relative and absolute overdose. In the forth section some practical problems are discussed and therefrom a justification for the ‘piecemeal approach’ is derived.